My research involves four
substantive areas: (1) higher education
patenting and licensing activities; (2) higher education finance as it pertains
to student retention and access; (3) student development and mentor-protégé
relationships; and, (4) school policy research. What unites these research
domains is a theoretical agenda concerning access to educational
opportunity. Whether these issues involve
relational, financial, political, systemic or sociological characteristics, my
research examines the overarching issue of educational access from the
interaction of structure, systems, relations and background. Most recently, my research--funded by the National Science Foundation under project number 0925915*--has
focused on important trends in international scientific collaborations
involving higher education that indicate an expanding interconnectedness
between scientific researchers. These
trends have important ramifications for who is participating in the creation,
ownership, control and diffusion of knowledge. For
the purposes of this statement, I have organized a description of my research
endeavors in the topical areas of intellectual property, mentoring and student
development, higher education finance and school policy research. Finally, I describe my future goals with
regard to my research.

*Note: Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation

Research Foci

Intellectual Property

Global Networks of University Innovators. Currently, I have begun a global research project, funded by the National Science Foundation under grant number 0925915, which will analyze processes of knowledge diffusion through university patenting activities. This is a multi-year research endeavor involving multiple data sets. The goals of this longitudinal study are to demonstrate important relationships between academic inventors and inter-organizational networks around the globe; to study the complexity of preferential attachment is it pertains to knowledge diffusion; and to examine innovation through changing network features.

Patents and the University. In a chapter I recently co-authored for a series on globalization, my
research examined the cultural aspects of international research collaborations
between developing countries and the
United States
. This study investigated the expanding research
alliances formed between universities that are motivated by the pressures and
benefits of a global economy. Because
research collaborations between the developing world and advanced economies are
frequently constructed between unequal partners in both intellectual and
material resources, it is important to evaluate the extent to which these
research partnerships reinforce or transform the social and economic
construction of marginality. The
university, especially, is a pivotal agent of scientific, intellectual and
technological resources. Patenting
activities between
U.S.
universities and those in the developing world must be conscientiously
monitored and controlled to prevent economically exploitative practices and
cultural domination. What unites the
dilemma between university patenting in developing economies and
U.S.
universities’ patenting activities is the shared struggle over the delicate
balance between values of academic freedom, basic science research,
privatization of indigenous knowledge and privatization of publicly funded
research.

Dissertation Research. My dissertation research studied the phenomenon that higher education
systems around the globe increasingly emulate the
U.S.
system of innovation situated
at research universities. It is
important to understand how international research collaboration is expanded
and motivated. My
research in this area analyzes the university as a locus and an engine of
globalization. By conducting a “real
world” network analysis of international university research exchange
activities, I have investigated how the changing public/private sphere in university
research activities is impacting the organizational structure of the university
and the notion of academic freedom. Because total expenditures on academic
research and development are concentrated at 50 institutions of higher
education in the
U.S.
,
this research examines whether or not the Bayh-Dole Act has exacerbated
institutional elitism by allowing universities and faculty to privately profit
from publicly funded research through patenting and licensing activities. This
dissertation represents the foundational study in a line of research I will
pursue on an international basis. I intend to establish an academic research
center that examines the cultural, academic and economic issues related to
university patenting activities. By
locating this center at a research university, it will be an avenue for me to
participate in teaching and mentoring graduate students.

Higher Education Finance

Student Loans and Grants. My higher education policy analysis
has focused on the effects of prices, loans and grants in impacting choice and
persistence at state, national and international levels. Initially, utilizing models developed by
Edward P. St. John and Patricia Somers, I examined within-year persistence in
four different academic years, by conducting a series of analyses to assess the
effects of student aid on persistence. Later, I focused on the student loan industry from both domestic and
international perspectives. I have
presented at professional conferences on this subject and have prepared reports
to the Indiana Commission on Higher Education on this subject. An element of my future research on
intellectual property will include an analysis of the changing relationship
between research funding, tuition discounting and institution based student
grants.

Mentoring and Student Development

Mentoring and the Doctorate. As part of the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, this study examined
doctoral programs in education at two research intensive institutions from the
perspectives of doctoral students, faculty and administrators.
Indiana
University’s self-study
in education doctoral mentoring practices is directed by Dr. Luise
McCarty. A primary objective of this
ongoing study is to lend transparency to the opaque process of obtaining a
doctorate. Specifically, through
analyzed survey data, taped and transcribed in-depth interviews with students,
faculty and administrators, and reviews of documents and notes from public
meetings related to mentoring doctoral students, I triangulated data to analyze
multiple points of view on the intricacies of mentor- protégé relationships. The preliminary results of this study suggest
practices and experiences that both hinder and promote degree completion at the
doctoral level at these research universities. Furthermore, the analysis has revealed gender, cultural and programmatic
differences in access to, and satisfaction with, mentoring relationships
between doctoral students and faculty.

Master Teachers and World Class
Talent. I have collaborated with Dr. Robert Arnove in
a long-term, on-going study that examines internationally renowned master
teachers and coaches in several fields of endeavor such as the performing arts,
athletics, chess and mathematics. In
concert with this research on the development of world-class talent, we have
focused on a sample of public school teachers who have been distinguished for
their excellence in teaching. This study
identifies characteristics shared by master teachers (located principally in
universities and music conservatories) and extraordinary public school
teachers. By focusing on the methods and
approaches both groups of teachers employ to promote higher levels of learning
and performance in their students, this study addresses how public school
teachers achieve the personalized and intensive instruction that characterizes
the development of world-class talent within the more bureaucratic structures
of public school systems. A major
premise of this study is that world-class performance and achievement in the
arts, athletics and other fields is most commonly the outcome of extended,
deliberate development directed by master teachers and coaches toward protégés
during critical periods of development.

School Policy Research

Early Literacy Development. I
was a founding research team member of this study that examined the Indiana
Early Literacy Intervention Grant Program--a program that funded a total of 133
projects and served 9,685 students in its first year. The study incorporated an
analysis of existing databases, a systematic review of the research literature
on reading interventions, and the analysis of a survey of funded projects
(Reading Recovery®, Early Literacy Learning Initiative, full-day kindergarten,
and other early literacy interventions). Four research questions were
addressed: What is the early literacy challenge in
Indiana? Did the funded school corporations
implement interventions with a high probability of success? What is the most
appropriate way to evaluate the impact of the program? and, How can the administration
of the Early Literacy Intervention Grant Program be enhanced to further improve
program impact? Key findings indicated that: (1) the program reached school
corporations that were in need of supplemental services; (2) the funded
projects used intervention methods that have inherently high probability of
increasing the number of Hoosier children who read on grade level by the end of
third grade; and (3) the costs of these interventions were reasonable, relative
to their anticipated effects. This research
resulted in several government reports.

Working on this funded project has made me a better teacher
educator and research practitioner. Likewise,
this research helped me formulate a strong sense of the importance of a
seamless K-22 educational experience. Additionally, it improved my comprehension of concrete forms of early exclusion
from educational opportunity. Through my
work with exceptional public school teachers, I utilized the insights I gained
from this research to connect an Armstrong Teacher (a program I coordinated
with Dr. Frank Lester for three years which integrated exceptional teacher
practitioners into the school of education’s teacher education program) with a
team of university experts on writing composition instruction. By working together, this high school teacher
informed state curricular standards on writing at the same time the university
team revised their curriculum through understanding the challenges public
school teachers face in the classroom. Together, they published a textbook and a four-volume guide that helps
high school students prepare for college composition and literature classes.

Public Opinions and Political Contexts of Education. This research examined the interrelationship
between public opinion and policy contexts for educational improvement and
reform. First, it reviewed trends in
public opinions about education policy issues and compared them to educators’
opinions about similar issues. Next, it
examined how the context for education policy decisions has changed over the
past two decades. Then, it went on to
consider different ways of viewing the interrelationship between public opinion
and policy decisions within school districts and school buildings. Finally, it concluded with implications for public
relations in schools with regard to current political conditions. This work is published in a textbook on
public relations for school administrators. My research in this area has helped me in my teaching of future
teachers.

Future Research

My research draws on my broad base in both quantitative and qualitative analytical techniques. As a graduate student, my coursework included graduate level
courses in bivariate, multivariate and logistic regression analyses,
qualitative inquiry methods, and advanced program evaluation. This preparation gave me opportunities to
work on a number of funded projects where I researched and analyzed education
policy issues at all levels of education (pre-kindergarten through
post-graduate studies). Having worked on
funded research teams, I recognize the importance of funding to my own research
goals as well as the opportunities such funding provides for graduate students
to participate in research. One of the
key roles I want to play as a faculty member is that I want to mentor
students. My methodological preparation,
my prior professional experience, and my research goals enable me to recognize
that I will need to begin organizing student research teams early in my faculty
career in order to pursue the scope and level of research I intend to
accomplish.

During recent discussions with
members of the European Union parliament, the National Science Foundation and
various economic development initiatives around the country, I have a growing
appreciation for the importance of my research in the service of knowledge diffusion process and international
technology transfer. I have been
encouraged to establish a center where my research could be furthered and
disseminated. I am in the process of laying the groundwork for the establishment and location of such a
center. Through this center, I will
begin to achieve one of my most important professional goals: providing a good climate for graduate student
development utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis;
dissemination of research findings to policy makers, university administrators
and education practitioners; and informing both domestic and international
education policy deliberations.